Apple reconciles with the EU, opens mobile payment system to competitors.

The European Union antitrust regulatory agency on Thursday (July 11) accepted Apple’s commitment to allow competitors to use the contactless payment technology on iPhones. This means iPhone users will no longer be limited to Apple Pay mobile wallet. This move ends a four-year antitrust investigation.

Apple Pay is Apple’s own mobile wallet, allowing users to make “tap and go” payments in stores and online using their iPhones. However, the company has been preventing competitors from entering Apple’s ecosystem, not allowing them to use Apple’s near-field communication (NFC) technology in their own digital wallets. Apple Pay has been the only payment option for iPhone users.

EU officials were concerned that Apple’s actions stifled competition, so the EU launched a formal antitrust investigation in 2020 to determine if Apple’s policy of restricting competitors from using its NFC technology violated competition rules.

According to the European Commission’s statement, during the investigation, the Commission preliminarily found that Apple abused its dominant position by denying access to NFC on iOS to mobile wallet developers in competition with it, while reserving such access only to Apple Pay. This resulted in excluding competitors of Apple Pay from the market and reducing the digital wallet choices for iPhone users.

In response to the EU’s concerns, Apple offered several commitments to address these issues and proposed in January of this year to allow competitors to use its contactless payment and mobile wallet technology. After assessment, the Commission concluded that Apple’s final commitment addressed concerns about the tech giant restricting third parties from using its “tap and go” payment technology, and it is legally binding on Apple.

According to The Wall Street Journal, EU Competition Commissioner Margrethe Vestager said, “From now on, competitors will be able to use iPhones for mobile payments in stores, competing effectively with Apple Pay. Consumers will have more secure, innovative mobile wallets to choose from.”

Vestager stated that iPhone manufacturers must fulfill their commitments by July 25. By then, all developers can provide mobile wallets for iPhone users using the “tap and go” technology.

Apple’s commitment applies to the entire European Economic Area (EEA), including 30 countries such as Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, the Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Iceland, Liechtenstein, and Norway.

The company mentioned that users can make transactions using Apple Pay and Apple Wallet, as well as through other applications on the iOS mobile operating system. This means consumers can choose and switch their default contactless transaction applications at any time.